1. Field of the Invention
This invention belongs to a field of clamping fixture, particularly to a material-saving and energy-saving multifunctional bench clamp.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
A bench clamper (or a bench clamp) is a kind of ancient clamping fixture and, one of the most fundamental tools that workers most often use for set-up and repair and in car garages. Due to shapes of work pieces held by bench clamps, including the most ordinary rectangles with every kind of thickness, tubes (cylinders) in every kind of diameters, and work pieces with irregular shapes and specially used in particular and professional situations, bench clamps account for a lot functions, and therefore, bench clamps, by use, can be generally classified to four classes, i.e., ordinary bench clamps, bench clamps for clamping tubes, multifunctional bench clamps and specially used bench clamps.
Ordinary bench clamps and bench clamps for clamping tubes as work pieces, are mostly used for clamping rectangles and tubes or cylinders, respectively. The respective clamps have their own functions, different from each other and others. However, multifunctional bench clamps include combinations with the above bench clamp; i.e., a multifunctional bench clamp is very useful to users for both functions of the above bench clamps (the ordinary bench clamps and the bench clamps for clamping tubes) at the same time.
FIG. 1-1 is a main view of the basic structure of a typical multifunctional bench clamp (note: irons (16) & (17) of the mouth of the clamp are now at the upper first workplace, i.e., the workplace drawing while primarily clamping rectangle work pieces). FIG. 1-2 is a cross-sectional view in an A-A direction of FIG. 1-1. FIG. 1-3 is a drawing of parts of a nut (19) in FIG. 1-1, including a main view and a cross-sectional view in a B-B direction. FIG. 2 is a workplace drawing at the second workplace of a typical multifunctional bench clamp in FIG. 1-1 (note: the workplace drawing while primarily clamping cylindrical work pieces, e.g., tubes).
The typical multifunctional bench clamp in FIG. 1-1 has two groups of work heads, (14.1) and (15.1) and (14.2) and (15.7), which are rotatable simultaneously. Its structure primarily comprises a movable clamp body (14), a middle clamp body (15), a fixed clamp body (18), a screw (11), a hanging armed key typed nut (19), a retractable locating-guiding device (9) and two groups of holding members (16)/(17) and (22)/(21). To position the first workplace and the second workplace is accomplished in the way that an end of locating-guiding device (9.1) plugs in a positioning hole (15.4) or (15.5) on the middle clamp body (15). Although the typical multifunctional bench clamps have been used widely for almost one hundred years, they have three drawbacks in their structure and working principle as below:
First, because a typical multifunctional bench clamp is composed of a concentric sleeved structure with three layers of a movable clamp body (14), a middle clamp body (15) and a fixed clamp body (18), to add a layer every time will always cost money and increase weight. Additionally, the upper section of the movable clamp body and middle clamp body needs to process a milling, slitting key slot (14.4) and, therefore, consumes more materials and adds up manufacture costs. This kind of bench clamp needs higher precision in the process, and there is relatively complex art.
Second, because there is a long journey slitting key groove (14.4) milled on the sleeved tube (14.3) of the movable clamp body, it makes the cross-sectional shape of the sleeved tube (14.3) to be a ‘c’ type with a gap, thereby weakening the strength of that sleeved tubes (the main body which be executed force); it only increases thickness of walls of the sleeved tube (14.3) of the movable clamp body to compensate. However, this not only adds up weights but also increases the consumption of materials and makes a lot of trouble to process the long milling, slitting key groove (14.4).
Thirdly, structure of the nut (19) inside bench clamp is very complicated and costs a lot to manufacture. Please see FIG. 1-2 and FIG. 1-3 for details, the nut (19) is compound of three functional parts: the body of the nut (19.2), a guide key (19.1) which is slidingly matched with the slitting key groove (14.4) and a flange (19.3) which is fixed with screws on the right end surface of the middle clamp body (15). The above-mentioned three parts are actually combined to be an integral hanging armed nut (19), and the left circularly ringed end surface (19.3b) of the flange (19.3) of the nut is slidingly matched with the right end surface (18.1) of the fixed clamp body (18). When the nut (19) is executed axial pull force from the screw (11), it is transmitted in a hanging armed way with unbalanced charges from the guide key (19.1) and the left side (19.3b) of the cover of the flange onto the fixed clamp body (18). Then, the thickness of the guide key (19.1) of the nut (19) in a hanging armed way with unbalanced charges has to be very large, and correspondingly, the key groove slidingly matched with the guide key becomes wider and therefore other related parts will be increased, e.g., the thickness of the walls of the movable clamp body with a ‘c’ shaped sleeved cross-section will also be increased. Above all, those will greatly increase the consumptions of raw materials and energy and add costs to manufacture. Therefore, the above mentioned drawbacks and many inconveniences thereof in the old multifunctional bench clamps have to bring about a new kind of material-saving and energy-saving multifunctional bench clamps which can overcome the above mentioned material-consuming and energy-consuming drawbacks.
In general, the panels are maintained by masts, each mast comprising of a profile, or an assembly of profiles; and comprising means designed capable of permitting to fasten, directly or indirectly, one or several panels, or accessories such as, non-restrictively, racks. Thus, a mast includes longitudinal retaining grooves aimed at receiving either a portion of the panel to be carried or an element permitting to hook the panel thereon.
Irrespective of their design, all presently known modular partition systems have the same drawback, namely that each mast remains visible, and constitutes an interruption of the image, the more when it is arranged between at least two panels, and the more when said at least two panels serve as a support for only one image.